Playing through Tormented Souls has been one of the best experiences I’ve had in a while. PQube, Dual Effect, and Abstract Digital have really put together and sent out a game that brings players back to the classic horror days while maintaining a modern gamers interest. Throughout my playthrough, I couldn’t help but revere how much the gameplay reminded me of Silent Hill and the map layout reminded me of Resident Evil. All while providing a story that left me confused and curious all the way through to the end.

Story

After receiving a strange image of twin girls in the mail, Caroline Walker finds herself drawn to investigate. Once she reaches the mansion-turned-hospital that the image led her to, she quickly finds herself knocked unconscious. Waking in the dead of night, naked in a bathtub, and hooked up to some decrepit medical equipment leaves her wondering what happened just happened to her. Now, she must fight for her life as she explores the halls looking for the truth behind the twin girls’ disappearance!

Gameplay

The initial thing to know about the controls is that this game features both tank and modern controls. If you play on a controller, you can simply use the analog stick to move around, but I played with the keyboard and mouse set up as I prefer the tank controls with fixed camera angle games. I believe you can also use the D-pad if you want to use tank controls with a controller as well.

Starting out, this game has you interact with a piece of mail you get. This both starts the story and gives you the first experience with examining and interacting with an item. This will be done a lot in the game, so definitely take note of how this is done. Flipping items over, interacting with different sides and different spots on the item, looking around it for details, and combining the item with another one is a consistent mechanic in the game.

Once you start actually playing the game, you start off with your first puzzle which will give you the tool to open the door. This tool will need to be examined, like the piece of mail at the start. All-in-all, these back-to-back sequenced events give a solid and quick tutorial to the player in order to get them used to what they are about to be in store for.

From there you find the lighter, as you can not be in darkness for too long or it will count as a death, and begin your exploration through the mansion. The entire game takes place within this mansion, so be sure to start remembering the layout as best you can. You will eventually find map pieces that feature each section of the mansion separately, but the only makes made on it are for key aspects like a save spot, a door locked that needs a special key, and other icons.

Once you really get going in this exploration, you will realize that they are following a lot of the same aspects you would find in the classic Silent Hill games. Doors locked on the other side and can be unlocked once you find your way around, puzzles blocking your progress that will require either an item that can be found anywhere in the mansion or for you to solve a riddle - if not both, a melee weapon along with a few other choice weapons that can be found as you progress, the ability to quickly turning around in a full 180 for quick getaways, and the strange other-world that can be accessed through a mirror (as it was in Silent Hill Origins). However, they also have some modernized options such as being able to step back while aiming your weapon, reloading your weapon by combining the ammo with the gun for a faster reload, and a few things that I would hate to spoil for you before you reach those points yourself.

My favorite aspect of this game falls under something I don’t believe had an official term for it. I have always referred to this mechanic as a “full map puzzle exploration.” Basically, you will have to find the items you need to solve some puzzles from a completely different place on the map and then remember where that item will be useful to you. There is no hand-holding and the game will not tell you where to go when you find these items. At best, you might get a hint where you find the item, but referring to your notes might be your best bet if you don’t remember it yourself.

Keep in mind that this game doesn’t provide a specific route to you and your progression through the story will be solely based on you. As long as you keep finding the items you need and solve puzzles, you will be making progress. However, expect to spend plenty of time thinking things over, reading notes, and solving puzzles with light hints and riddles because that is where a lot of the time will go to.

As for the combat itself, they made it close to classic horror as well. If you are close enough to an enemy, it will auto-lock on them when you aim your weapon. However, if you aren’t close enough, it will just aim it forward. With the fixed camera angles, this can sometimes make it hard to see enemies, but that is why you need to listen for their common sound effects and be on guard when entering somewhere you haven’t been before. Your health is displayed in your inventory screen with a heartbeat to go along with the status. When your status is in Danger, note that you are one hit from death, so be sure to use a healing item.

Maybe a slight spoiler here, but just a fair warning to new players; I got over-confident when I found myself fully stocked on ammo and health at one point. Within a ten-minute stretch, I ran through all that material because I wasn’t properly prepared for the section I had to get through. Don’t be like me - stay on guard and conserve your materials!

Audio and Visual

When it comes to the graphics, I would say they did a good job considering the game style they were aiming for. It isn’t too realistic, but not a cartoon style either. It is a modernized take on classic horror character designs and it fits well with the fixed camera angles, item designs, character designs, and the creature’s scary looks.

The audio is where my only gripe with this game lies. I wasn’t a fan of the voice acting and thought it could have been done a lot better. While some lines were done well, others were not, but almost always the tone and mood were off for the scene. At least music does a good job at either bringing a tense sensation to certain areas, leaving the player in silence, and brightening the safe rooms with their melodies. The music was a solid asset that brought that classic horror feeling into the overall experience.

Replayability

There are actually multiple endings to unlock, so there is definitely some replayability. The argument of whether this game is replayable or not would ultimately fall under the same argument if you find Silent Hill and Resident Evil games to be replayable. If anything, it would be even more replayable if they end up adding a difficulty option as there isn’t a choice for that as it is.

What Could Be Better

As I mentioned before, they should include a difficulty option to help give this game some more replayability. That and the voice acting was just not well done and could have been better.

Other than those two things, there should have been some form of quick switch key for items. You have a light sword, melee weapon, ranged weapon, and healing items. These should have been able to have been assigned to a slot of quick switch keys rather than having it set up where you have to open the inventory just to switch to a lighter or crowbar.

Conclusion

Tormented Souls brings the classic horror gaming experience back! Providing solid puzzles, just the right amount of weaponry, and something I have always referred to as a “full map puzzle exploration” that isn’t really utilized these days, I felt the entertainment I used to from when I was younger. It has been a long time since a game gave me the same experience that I remember feeling when I played through Silent Hill 3 for the first time, but they nailed it! I sincerely hope that they turn this into a series and I highly recommend this game for any fans of horror games, especially if you like the classic horror style.

Tormented Souls is currently available on both PC via Steam and PlayStation 5. It is planned to release on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S, but no time frame has been announced at this time.